So there’s this new word. And it’s actually a real word. Automagical. Chris tells me this word is most closely related to software/web development. Where you write code and things just automagically happen. Like you know it should work, but it’s still magical when it does.

Chris and I have been working our tails off on a redesign of my calligraphy site, so the word automagical is an over-used term around our home. So I had to put it on one of Chris’s boringly plain tees.

I used Bauhaus font, Silhouette’s yellow flock heat transfer and my cutter, which are also very automagical things. I’m always surprised at how many fun things I can make with my Silhouette. Which brings me to the second reason of this post.

Yup. One of you U.S.-based readers will win one. Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter. Hopefully that’s not annoying. Only one hoop to go through, though. Of course, the more hoops you go through, the more chances you have of winning. A winner will be chosen randomly and announced morning of November 28th. Good luck!

CONGRATULATIONS!! We have a winner!! Thank you all for your sweet wishes and thoughtful comments! I loved how so many of you want to learn calligraphy for service-oriented purposes.

I chose sort of randomly. I just scrolled to a random page of comments and picked my favorite (because it’s my birthday and I can). I love that Meghan wants to do things for others. So I chose her.

Meghan’s comment: I will use my art of writing calligraphy to personalize 2014 planners and notebooks and have a sale in my school for the benefit of the families who were affected by the flood and the earthquake here in the Philippines. My schoolmates can get personalized items with their calligraphed names on them; they also helped put smiles on the victims’ faces.

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It’s my birthday! Happy day for me! This also marks my blog’s 6th birthday. I can’t believe I’ve been blogging here for that long. NUTS.

We’re not doing a whole lot around our house today (although I didget the gold iPhone I ordered 6 weeks ago. Woot Woot!!!).

I couldn’t let this day pass without doing something here to thank you for following along on all of my adventures; so I’m giving away a calligraphy kit! One lucky person will win a calligraphy kit, a workshop subscription stuffed with a few extra surprises ($150+ value). It includes:

I always have a hard time writing clever cards – so I thought a little prompt on the front would be great. I know how to make good lists. I ended up giving one of the rejects to Chris. The list prompt worked like a charm.

And who doesn’t want a little calligraphy on the front of the envelope?

I made a few things for Penelope last week! In fact, while I was partying it up in LA, I found a lot of textiles just for her. She’s going to get a new wardrobe here by the end of the summer.

I picked up this burnout fabric (sort of similar, similar) at the Michael Levine Loft. You can buy fabric for $2.50 per pound. It’s amazing! I found a lot of sheer chiffons and jerseys that I just couldn’t say no to. This, being one of them. If you look at it closely, it’s got a little paisley pattern to it. It’s really quite sweet.

This is certainly not the kind of fabric I would use to make a shirt for me. Much too see-through. I was thinking of a summer hoodie, then I remembered Penelope doesn’t have a swim coverup. Heck, she’s never had one.

I’m not entirely sure how the idea came to me, but I thought about the circle dress I made a while back and thought if I added a hood, it’d be a great summer coverup. I made the opening smaller than my own waist and just winged the hood part. I grabbed one of mine and one of Penelope’s hoodies and quickly drew up a pattern. I didn’t even test it beforehand. Look at how perfectly those edges overlap! Huzzah!

Penelope’s impatience for mom (she stopped calling me mommy last week! WHAT??) is really showing here. She’s rearing to go outside and join her friends for some water games.

I opted not to put any arm holes in it. Laziness or simplicity? I’ll let you guess. It certainly doesn’t seem to bother her at all. Penelope got a few approving nods at the pool and with Chris on a fast-food run.

Felix is the cutest photo-bomber. He’s even trying to show off by standing up!

I don’t know if you’ve gathered from how much I’ve talked and instagrammed about Fabric weekend that I had way too much fun. I bought about 40 pounds of leather and fabric. I couldn’t help myself! Especially when it came to the leather. The pink and blue leathers were the first things I pulled out of my bag to show to Chris when I got home. Being just as excited as me about my spoils he asked, “What are you going to do with it?”

Here are just a few pieces that I picked up while on vacation. I had to buy a new shelving unit just to accommodate the new arrivals. Look at my rainbow! Since I was in LA’s fabric district, I wanted to get prints and textiles that I can’t find at home. I’ve got all the basics covered since Jo-Ann is about 5 minutes from my house. Plus I only had so much room in my bags, so I had to be pretty picky. The highlights of my fabric shopping were:

FIDM Scholarship store: Oh my word, we had such a great tour of the school and their different departments. My favorite was the collaboration between the textile, fashion and decor departments. And that geometric print? It’s silk.

Mood: Was expensive compared to the previous day’s average at $2/yard. Wandering through 11+ aisles of floor to 20′ ceiling of rolls of fabric made my head spin, everything was AMAZING! I don’t know how project runway peeps do that place in 30 minutes for $50.

After Mood we enjoyed the most delicious bacon-wrapped hotdog.

Michael Levine: The above three fabrics were from the loft. You sift through giant boxes of fabric. I also got some swim fabric at the regular store. Yes. I’m going to make a swimsuit. I’m crazy.

Fabric Planet: This hidden gem had loads of rayon challis (pronounced shallee, according to peeps at Mood). It’s hard to find anywhere, but Fabric Planet had quite a few modern prints to choose from. I’m totally digging the tie-dye print above.

Photo by Bethany – who I totally need to hang out with again

My trip wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Miriam (and Andrea). It was a much-needed girl’s vacation!